Newbie Build and Question Thread...

[sentrek]

Thanks Koigal, it hasnt rained since i filled it though, and there is one low spot but i will be fixing it so nothing can drain into the pond.
I am getting a little discouraged, the filter has been running for 2 days now and no sign of any improvement, as a matter of fact the fall rocks are green already. Anything i can put in the water to help? I know it was 100 yesterday and 104 today and this thing gets sun from about 9:30-10 until about 6, is algae growing faster than can be filtered out?

 

[Koigal50]

I use mircrolift Blue dye to shade and combat the sun rays. I just tried barley straw this year and I think it's helping. I see you built a bigger filter box, that's good. Some algae is natural, but if it gets away from you, it can clog up things.

 

[sentrek]

I just picked up some Pond Care Pond Zyme with Barley last night and put some of that in there, I also added some batting, 2 different types, to the filter for some finer filtration. Hoping this will help. I am thinking of getting a tarp and some rope to do some partial shade until temps come down some. I think I will also hook up the fountain attachment to the small pump for some aeration.

 

[sissy]

waterfall rocks should get green it helps filter the water .If you don't like it easiest way is to turn off the pump and spray them with peroxide and wait 10 or 15 minutes and turn your pump back on .Algae will slowly go away if you want it to be faster scrub it with a toilet bowl brush .Barley just turns in to peroxide so cheaper to use peroxide .

 

[sentrek]

I don't mind the green on the rocks, it hides the foam and sealer. I was just trying to be as informative as possible.

 

[sissy]

I have a little of it but i add a 1/4 peroxide to my pond every once in awhile adds a little oxygen also .Like thursday power was out for 4 hours and I was lucky it was cloudy out and cooler .No clue why power was out but you deal with it .To me it helps filter the water but since I put lots of grasses in my filters it seems to not form as much .I guess no nutrients for it

 

[sentrek]

Ok I hooked up the fountain to help add some oxygen to the water, that was at about noon today. still haven't seen the slightest improvement in the water all week. How long should I give it before I try a major water change?

 

[sentrek]

Fixed it up a little today. Still gotta do a little more with the rocks around the waterfall and some plants.

 

[sentrek]

So I found out today that a 265gph pump will not run both the aerator attachment that came with it and a spitter at the same time. What size will run both effectively. Hose from pump to the spitter will be around 12-15` long.

 

[sentrek]

So now that the pond is pretty much done, see my "getting close to done" thread in the photography section if interested. Complete with plants, aerator, spitter and 6 new small fish, 3 comets and 3 shubunkins, I can expect my water to start clearing up soon? Right now it is pretty green, I filled it up sunday, tested it monday night, Ph was good at 7.6 but Ammonia was at .50 and If i remember correctly Nitrite was at 1.0 and Nitrate was at 40. I tested it last night and PH was still 7.6 and everything else was at 0 so that is when I went and got the fish.